Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC), Toi Moana, is urging orchardists and contractors to remain vigilant with their biosecurity practices.

Thorough machine hygiene is essential to help curb the spread of pest plants which pose a significant threat to the region's orchards, farmland, wetlands, native ecosystems, lakes, and waterways. Seeds and small fragments of unwanted vegetation can inadvertently spread through contaminated equipment and agricultural/horticultural machinery.

As growers will be well aware, prevention is the most effective tool in minimising the potential impacts caused by the spread of pest plants. Orchard managers, workers, and contractors play a crucial role in preventing the spread of pest plants and diseases and ensuring that all vehicles, equipment and machinery coming in and out of a property are thoroughly cleaned and not hiding any soil or debris is critical to minimising biosecurity risks.

Pest plants such as alligator weed, noogoora burr and Asiatic knotweed are already present in the Bay of Plenty but in limited distribution so are a top priority to find and control.

Key tips for staying biosecurity safe and managing the risks of spreading pest plants and diseases:

• Visually inspect all machinery used on site for organic matter, even a small amount soil can contain seeds, roots or fragments.

• Ensure all tyres, tracks, undersides, grills and filters, and other machinery or equipment that has been used is thoroughly cleaned before leaving the site, and before entering new environments.

• Ideally, machinery wash-down should happen on the property before movement, which will contain any problems at the source.

• Include specific protocols for vehicles, machine and equipment hygiene in your biosecurity plan, including entry and exit procedures.

Maintaining a log-book is a great way to demonstrate that you’re dedicated to good machine hygiene practices and can be useful if new incursions need to be traced back. View a template here.

If you are concerned about identification of a plant, or if you wish to report an infestation, notify BOPRC on 0800 884 880.

Image: Alligator weed. Credit Trevor James.